By MIKE TEAL and RAY KELLY
In the fall of 1970, Robert “Bob” Random stepped before the cameras as John Dale in Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind.
The 20-something Canadian actor had already appeared in such films as Village of the Giants, …tick… tick… tick… and This Property Is Condemned. He had logged 50-plus hours in episodic TV, appearing on Iron Horse, The Virginian and Gunsmoke, before being cast as a young leading man tangling with legendary director Jake Hannaford (John Huston) in The Other Side of the Wind.
Some 44 years later, the movie which could have been a breakout hit for Random finally seems poised for theatrical release.
Random, now 69, returned to his Canadian roots in 2002. He and his wife reside on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. He kindly agreed to field some questions from Wellesnet about working with Welles on the most famous never-reeleased movie of all time.
In Peter Tonguette’s book Orson Welles Remembered, you stated you met Welles via Peter Bogdanovich after interviewing for The Last Picture Show and that Welles knew your work on Gunsmoke. What was that initial meeting like?
Peter didn’t actually introduce me to Orson. I got a call from my agent for an interview and showed up the next day.
There was Peter sitting alone in a nice but unpretentious office. I always liked one-on-one interviews.
He told me “You’re not right for the part, but you might like to know you were recommended to me by Orson Welles”
If you’re going to have an unsuccessful interview, that’s a pretty good consolation prize.
A day or two later, the phone rang and the well known voice said “Hello Bob. This is Orson Welles.” He went on to say that he wanted me to be in the movie he was about to start; that I already had the part (!) and he would like me to come talk about it at lunch tomorrow.
The next day I went to the home where he was staying. We chatted for a while and I met Oja (Kodar). There was no script yet but he wanted to know if I could drive a motorcycle. No problem..
He gave me a check for $2,000 as a retainer with the balance of $8,000 to be paid after release (!) and told me not to worry about the bike: he would pick up a Honda.
Shooting would start in a few days. We said goodbye, I got in my car, drove to Bud Ekin’s Motorcycle Shop and with my advance, bought a Triumph Bonneville. Then I went home and called Orson to tell him I had a bike to use in the picture.
You had a role as a motorcycle gang member in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, a TV series Welles was reportedly hooked on around 1970. John Dale, your character in The Other Side of the Wind, is also a motorcycle gang member. Did Welles ever mention having seen you in The Dick Van Dyke Show or comment on your previous work?
I don’t remember him ever commenting on my previous work and had no idea he watched Dick Van Dyke. It never came up. However, later I found out he had seen me on Gunsmoke.
Did Welles discuss the motivations or psychology of John Dale and Oja Kodar’s character? For example, your character bears an interesting resemblance to Jim Morrison. Was that a coincidence?
There were no discussions of motivations or psychology and no script that I ever saw. Just situations with Orson coaching directions off-camera – and often laughing out loud. All the footage of Oja and me was shot MOS [without sound]. He had a good time and so did I.
As for the Jim Morrison comparison, I don’t know when that started, but it was quite a while after the principle shooting.
So, a coincidence; but we both attended UCLA Film School in the early ’60’s, albeit in different years.
Filming stretched on for five years. When did you film your scenes? How long were you on the set?
All of my footage was shot from early September to late December in 1970.
What was your experience like filming pretty much in secret on the old MGM studio lot?
The experience filming on the old MGM lot was very successful. We didn’t have to shoot on the run or be furtive in any way because we were in fact legal; renting it. The only secret was that Gary Graver was the frontman, Orson was invisible. There were no security guards, no one else on the lot but our crew… and the tumbleweeds.
Many happy days of uninterrupted movie making. I had a special fondness for MGM anyway: it was my favourite studio. They gave me most of my work when I first arrived in town, paid well and I liked the Lion!
Were all of your scenes limited to the “film-within-the-film”, or did you shoot scenes at Jake Hannaford’s party as well? In one version of the script, John Dale shows up after the party is pretty much over, wandering through the aftermath, almost like a ghost. In another version, he shows up at the party and there is a confrontation.
This is an interesting question, reminiscent of something he said to me during the initial filming in 1970. “If there is any talent to directing, which I doubt, it is the ability to take advantage of accidents and situations that occur during shooting.”
As far as I can determine, there were two parties. Not having seen the finished cut, I have no way of knowing if they were combined. I was not at the Jake Hannaford party which I understand was shot in Arizona.
However, about two years after my last day on the picture, I got a call from a friend saying Orson was back in town and shooting a party scene that night back up at the large house. So, I went up there and sure enough, big Hollywood party, crowded with guests; an Orson “open call.” I had purposefully arrived late and I suppose it could be said that I was “ghosting” around, staying out of Orson’s eye-line and mingling in the dimly lit living room.
As the party thinned out, I moved to where Orson could see me. His reaction was perfect. His eyes lit up and he held out his arms to warmly greet me. I walked over to him and he gave me a big hug and spent some time assuring me that the film would be out soon. Of course, I was completely disarmed, hearing what I wanted to hear. I left the party with renewed hope.
The questions now become: Did Orson see me sooner, even though I thought he didn’t? Was I captured on film that night?
I don’t know but if so, did Orson get his “accident”? Or maybe that was when he decided to plant a John Dale double into the Hannaford party. You never know with that wily old maverick.
What was it like working for Welles? He was said by many to have been pretty mild-mannered with actors, but had an explosive temper with the crew. Was that your experience and observation?
Working for Orson was a dream; for one thing, he was Orson!
Yes, he was very patient and considerate of the cast but every now and then he could get exasperated. In the heat of the moment he occasionally went off on the crew for some failure to communicate but it was short-lived and evaporated quickly. A couple of times he even apologised. The small crew of young film enthusiasts were dedicated and savvy so they just let him vent.
At least a couple of books have suggested that Welles let some people down when The Other Side of the Wind was left uncompleted. They were counting on having a Welles film on their resume to help their careers and felt some bitterness. What are your own feelings?
As for being let down or bitter because it wasn’t released when it may have “mattered” to me…Let down, sure. Exasperated, miffed and even peeved but never bitter. I still had the feather in cap. I even kept the “secret” until it began to leak out years later.
It helped that by 1970, I had been an actor for 11 years with two TV series’, one in Vancouver and one in Hollywood, a total of 120 episodes plus many guest spots on TV. There were quite a few pilots that were not sold, a few movies which were unreleased or not finished so I was accustomed to the topsy-turvy nature of the business.
I also knew quite a bit about Orson’s career and reputation. I was just delighted to be hired by him.
How do you think your career would have been altered had The Other Side of the Wind had come out in 1976?
I thought I would work in more movies and less TV.
When was the last time you spoke with Welles?
At the Hollywood party I crashed.
In the intervening years, have you had any contact with cast of crew members from The Other Side of the Wind?
Yes, Gary Graver kept in touch with progress reports over the years until his untimely death I was very sorry to lose him. He always kept the torch burning.Even up to the last time I spoke with him he was giving me bits of news and joking, 30 years after the fact, that I might be needed for pick-ups.
What was your reaction when the news broke that The Other Side of the Wind will finally be completed, some 40 years after it was shot? Has anyone from the production been in contact with you?
Well, I’ve heard it before, many times. This time, I’m tempted to believe it, with the New York Times report and now your communication.
What is your favorite memory of your time filming?
My favorite memory: well, the whole experience would fit that description but there is one that stands out.
We never knew where we would be shooting but about two months into the adventure we all went to what seemed to be a secure location; out to Mulholland Drive, a narrow ribbon of a road atop the Santa Monica mountains with virtually no traffic… probably an old fire trail. Gary had found this location just off the road, a clearing with no shrubs or trees where we could all park and wonder what we were in for.
Orson had the crew build an eight-foot platform big enough to place a very old metal bed, Oja and me. This so he could get the low camera angles he envisioned. This was all to be shot in the buff. No problem, Shooting commenced with Orson yelling out directions from below. On the third day of this romp something unexpected happened.
Out of the blue a helicopter rose from behind a nearby hill, so close you could see the uniforms of the two occupants. After a few exciting moments the whirlybird flew away, Orson was whisked into a car and made his getaway.
Oja was helped down from the platform, Gary climbed up handing me a towel to cover up and a Pepsi. Oja now safely in another car, the Black & White arrived. Good old Gary; he explained that he was shooting a Pepsi commercial… and they bought it! But alas, we had no shooting permit and were asked to leave.
I would say this incident led to later renting the MGM lot where the bed scene was recreated and finished without interruption.
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